Iowa men’s wrestling rebounds with dominant dual victory at No. 25 Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – University of Iowa returned to its winning ways.

The Hawkeyes closed a weekend with a dominant showing against Maryland, rebounding from a loss at No. 1 Penn State.

Second-ranked Iowa won eight bouts, including five with bonus points, for a 34-9 victory over No. 25 Maryland Sunday afternoon at Xfinity Center Pavilion. The Hawkeyes have won all seven duals against the Terrapins.

This was a more palatable than the first setback of the season.

“You never know what is going to happen after a bad performance,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said after the dual. “We had a bad performance on Friday night. You do credit them because you don’t know.

“We had two wins the other tonight, this afternoon we had eight wins, but we want 10 wins. Neither is what you want. You want 10 weight classes, 10 wins.

“I don’t think it’s the most important thing bouncing back. I think the most important thing when you see how they bounced back.”

Iowa’s regulars recorded seven wins, while Cullan Schriever was successful at 141. NCAA finalists Drake Ayala (133) and Jacori Teemer (157) did not compete. The most notable win came from fifth-ranked 184-pounder Gabe Arnold. He scored an escape and rode out No. 6 Jaxon Smith for a 2-1 decision in tiebreaker-1.

Brands said Arnold was focused and Arnold did not like the coach’s decision to not wrestle him against Penn State. The victory over Smith could have postseason implications.

“Credit him,” Brands said. “That’s a big win. That’s a ranked guy and that’s a match that’s going to factor into the (conference) seeding. It’s going to factor into the national seeding, factor into the rankings and so a big win there.”

Joey Cruz started the bonus-point barrage with a 20-6 major decision over Tyler Garvin, tallying six takedowns.

Kyle Parco at 149, No. 2 165-pounder Michael Caliendo and Patrick Kennedy (174) all posted technical falls. Parco used four takedowns and two sets of nearfall points for a 17-1 win over Michael Pizzuto. Caliendo racked up eight takedowns in a 25-10 romp over Alex Uryniak. Patrick Kennedy had eight takedowns in his 22-6 win over Branson John, helping Iowa to a 31-6 takedown advantage.

Top-ranked Stephen Buchanan remained unbeaten with a pin over Chase Mielnik in 2:50 at 197. Buchanan had a technical fall secured already with the takedown, whipping Mielnik over to his back and finishing the match with the pin.

Heavyweight Ben Kueter closed with a 5-4 victory over No. 12 Seth Nevills. Kueter used a takedown in the closing seconds of the first and added a late escape after a Nevills takedown tied the match.

“I like Kueter finishing on top at the end of the first period, getting a first-period takedown and getting out and not letting the (allowed) takedown beat him,” Brands said. “It’s because you paid attention to a little detail. The detail is that you ended the period on top in the first period. It adds up. It makes a difference.”

Iowa improves to 10-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten Conference. Maryland is 8-7 and 3-2. The Hawkeyes return to action Friday against No. 7 Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, starting at 7 p.m.

AT COLLEGE PARK, MD.

Iowa 34, Maryland 9

(Individual takedowns in parentheses)

125 pounds – Joey Cruz (I) major dec. Tyler Garvin, 20-6 (6,0); 133 – Braxton Brown (M) pinned Kale Petersen, 5:57 (2,0); 141 – Cullan Schriever (I) dec. Dario Lemus, 6-5 (1,1); 149 – Kyle Parco (I) tech. fall Michael Pizzuto, 17-1 (3,0); 157 – Ethen Miller (M) dec. Miguel Estrada, 4-2 (1,0); 165 – Michael Caliendo (I) tech. fall Alex Uryniak, 25-10 (8-1); 174 – Patrick Kennedy (I) tech. fall Branson John, 22-6 (7,0); 184 – Gabe Arnold (I) dec. Jaxon Smith, 2-1 tiebreaker-1 (0,0); 197 – Stephen Buchanan (I) pinned Chase Mielnik, 2:50 (5,0); Hwt. – Ben Kueter (I) dec. Seth Nevills, 5-4 (1,1)

MEET STATISTICS

Takedowns – Iowa 31, Maryland 6. Reversals – Iowa 0, Maryland 0. Escapes – Iowa 13, Maryland 30. Nearfall points – Iowa 11, Maryland 4. Penalty points (awarded) – Iowa 0, Maryland 0. Riding time points – Iowa 2, Maryland 0. Total match points – Iowa 119, Maryland 52.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com